Charlotte Kendrick

Goodbye Blue is an Americana duo featuring Charlotte Kendrick and Dan Rowe. The duo performs melodic and personal Americana-Folk, reminiscent of story-telling artists such as Patty Griffin, John Prine, and the Weepies. Their most recent release, Worth the Wait, came out in 2016 on Wondermore Records. 

Lead singer and songwriter Charlotte was raised just north of New York City. She played music from an early age, and although enrolled in piano lessons originally, she quickly gravitated to acoustic guitar. Charlotte attended the University of Vermont where she played regularly and performed with a female a cappella group. By graduation, she wanted to pursue music professionally, but lost her nerve and decided instead to enlist in the Peace Corps, where she served for two years in Cote D’Ivore in West Africa. Living alone without electricity in a small village, Charlotte was finally able to find meaningful time to work on her songwriting.

Dan also grew up playing music. His early roots were in classical music, singing in his mother’s church choirs and studying violin, but country and bluegrass soon grabbed hold, and he would often sit in on fiddle when his father and uncles were jamming together. At age 12 rock music entered his life, and he started learning any instrument he could get his hands on. During his freshman year in high school, he and two childhood friends formed a band, The Dent, and ended up playing together for 15 years, performing throughout the Northeast and recording four albums. Dan studied music composition in college, and after graduation paid the bills by working in the music industry on the business side and engineering in recording studios in the New York area. By 2002, Dan was living in New York City and working at TVT Records during the day, while performing and producing independent records from his project studio on nights and weekends.

In 2002, after finishing her Peace Corps service, Charlotte moved to NYC intent on trying her hand as a musician. With no experience and no real connections, she reached out to her high school music teacher, who happened to be a relative of Dan’s. He told her “Call my friend Dan Rowe.” Dan and Charlotte became fast friends. Six months later, when Charlotte expressed interest in recording an album, Dan offered to help and signed on as producer. Together they produced Charlotte’s debut 2003 release, I Get Stupid. Three weeks before the album was finished, Dan joined Charlotte on stage playing bass and signing harmonies, and the two have been performing together ever since. 

Charlotte and Dan’s musical relationship proved to be a powerful fit: Charlotte’s gentle but captivating voice complimented by Dan’s subtle harmony; Charlotte providing the center groove with her acoustic guitar, with Dan anchoring the ensemble with his bass and sparse arrangements; Charlotte’s female perspective articulated clearly in her lyrics, with Dan’s production delivering an authentic finished piece. After the debut release, Charlotte and Dan made two more records together, Live at the Roger Smith (2004) and North of New York (2007), all released as Charlotte Kendrick records. In 2004, they celebrated their wedding engagement by self-booking a 100-day national tour, and continued to tour extensively through the next five years, playing shows for fans across the country. But in 2008, life took a different turn when Charlotte gave birth to their first child, with two more following shortly behind. Although they never officially stopped playing music, their activity slowed to a crawl. 

Fast forward to 2016, Charlotte and Dan’s album “Worth the Wait” marked their re-emergence into Americana music. Now performing as Goodbye Blue and based in Hopewell, NJ, their more recent songs reflect a time of life that many can relate to. As in past material, Charlotte’s lyrics are autobiographical and unapologetic, describing the joy and struggles of raising small children. While unsure of what their future may hold, they know one thing is for certain: “We will definitely be making music,” says Charlotte. “Our lives just don’t make sense without it.”